"Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight" (HBO)

"Fargo" (FX)

"The Normal Heart" (HBO)

"American Horror Story: Coven" (FX)

"Sherlock: His Last Vow"; Masterpiece (PBS)

"Luther" (BBC America)

"Treme" (HBO)

"Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight" (HBO)

Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: Stephen Frears

Bigger than any of Ali’s boxing matches, Frears was drawn to the tale of the boxing legend’s fight against charges of draft-dodging during the Vietnam War that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

“It takes a supple mind to understand the law, particularly Ali’s defense,” says Frears. “It was also exhausting to work through the transcripts and dramatize them, while keeping them real and believable.”

Part of that believability was not having an actor play Ali. Instead, Frears opted to portray the fighter by using news clips of him.

Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: “Buridan’s Ass,” Colin Bucksey

How do you bring a miniseries inspired by a Coen brothers film to cable television? For creator-writer Noah Hawley and director Adam Bernstein, who helmed the first two hours, it involved watching the Coen canon and taking cues not just from the 1996 film but also from 2007’s Oscar-winning best picture “No Country for Old Men.”

“We took our cue from the palette of ‘No Country’ yet we were doing our own thing and navigating our own visuals,” Bernstein says. For his two episodes, Bucksey also influenced the look, feeling and visual language for the mini, which filmed in Calgary during winter.

For Hawley, the scenario of two men (Emmy-nommed leads Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman) meeting in a hospital emergency room was very Coen-esque. But getting around the absence of the iconic character of Marge was a special challenge.

“We flipped it so that the police chief gets killed and Molly (Allison Tolman) gets to be the chief and hopefully people see the character as entirely different,” says Hawley, who wrote the first eight episodes before production started — with assistance from four writers who helped him break stories — and then finished the final two.

Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: screenplay by Larry Kramer,

Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: Ryan Murphy

Based upon Kramer’s largely autobiographical 1985 play, bringing “Heart” to pay cable was an extremely emotional experience for Murphy, as Kramer struggled with health issues.

“He would write those scenes either in the hospital or at home with an IV tube in his arm,” Murphy says. “He would stay up until 3 in the morning no matter how high his fever was. I just marveled at that. Writing the script is what got him better. He had waited 30 fucking years to get that thing made, and he was not going to let any illness stop him.”

For Murphy, feeling the weight of the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives in the AIDS crisis, the biggest reward of the project was bringing the story to a new, young audience who was unaware of it.

“So the fact that so many young men and women are looking to become little Larry Kramers for their own causes is by far and away the best thing that I’ve ever been part of in my whole career.”

Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: “Bitchcraft,” Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk

Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: “Bitchcraft,” Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

As the co-creators of the anthology series, Falchuk and Murphy work hard to set the tone with the first episode of the year, spending about six months dreaming it up, and season 3 veered off in a new direction.

“Literally the phrase is ‘magical realism,’ because that’s what we were doing,” says Murphy. “Season 2 was about an insane asylum, and it was very dark and very gritty. And I think we wanted to do something lighter and more glamorous and more fun.”

Murphy says, “I loved that we were able to showcase strong, powerful women and to provide work — that was a wonderful opportunity for everybody.”

Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: Steven Moffat

Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: Nick Hurran

“Sherlock has been such a success, it’s hard to know how to top it each time,” “Sherlock” showrunner Moffat says. “But we’re very keen to keep the character developing. Sherlock Holmes is a genius and geniuses learn fast, so he has to change. The challenge was to keep him dangerous and unpredictable even as he finds his more human sides.”

Moffat says he loves “making mad plans” for their detective drama with co-creator Mark Gatiss and bouncing ideas off director Nick Hurran. “We collaborate continuously, or that’s how it feels. As with all great directors, it’s about throwing as many ideas at him as possible and waiting for him to throw better ideas back.”

Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: Neil Cross

Creator- writer Cross sees the story of Detective Chief Inspector John Luther as a culmination of a lifetime of fandom of other detectives including Harry Bosch and the Doctor in “Doctor Who,” with elements of “The X-Files” and even the inspiration of David Bowie.

“A million things go into the mash. It’s me writing television that I would want to see,” says Cross. Without a writing partner, he bounces ideas — and frustrations — off his wife.

“ ‘Luther’ is so intense that four episodes a season is enough for the audience, but I wish there were more because I love writing them.”

Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: David Simon, Eric Overmyer

The genesis of the New Orleans-set series goes back to Simon and Overmyer’s days on “Homicide: Life on the Street” and “The Wire,” but the concept of doing a Big Easy show centered on a musician was kicked into high gear by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“David and I alternate writing, rewriting and producing each episode,” says Overmyer of their collaboration.

“We try our utmost to convey New Orleans culture as authentically as possible.

“We recorded all of the music live on set, which most people don’t do. It’s much more difficult but it’s also much more rewarding.”

Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: Stephen Frears

Bigger than any of Ali’s boxing matches, Frears was drawn to the tale of the boxing legend’s fight against charges of draft-dodging during the Vietnam War that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

“It takes a supple mind to understand the law, particularly Ali’s defense,” says Frears. “It was also exhausting to work through the transcripts and dramatize them, while keeping them real and believable.”

Part of that believability was not having an actor play Ali. Instead, Frears opted to portray the fighter by using news clips of him.

Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: “Buridan’s Ass,” Colin Bucksey

How do you bring a miniseries inspired by a Coen brothers film to cable television? For creator-writer Noah Hawley and director Adam Bernstein, who helmed the first two hours, it involved watching the Coen canon and taking cues not just from the 1996 film but also from 2007’s Oscar-winning best picture “No Country for Old Men.”

“We took our cue from the palette of ‘No Country’ yet we were doing our own thing and navigating our own visuals,” Bernstein says. For his two episodes, Bucksey also influenced the look, feeling and visual language for the mini, which filmed in Calgary during winter.

For Hawley, the scenario of two men (Emmy-nommed leads Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman) meeting in a hospital emergency room was very Coen-esque. But getting around the absence of the iconic character of Marge was a special challenge.

“We flipped it so that the police chief gets killed and Molly (Allison Tolman) gets to be the chief and hopefully people see the character as entirely different,” says Hawley, who wrote the first eight episodes before production started — with assistance from four writers who helped him break stories — and then finished the final two.

Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: screenplay by Larry Kramer,

Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: Ryan Murphy

Based upon Kramer’s largely autobiographical 1985 play, bringing “Heart” to pay cable was an extremely emotional experience for Murphy, as Kramer struggled with health issues.

“He would write those scenes either in the hospital or at home with an IV tube in his arm,” Murphy says. “He would stay up until 3 in the morning no matter how high his fever was. I just marveled at that. Writing the script is what got him better. He had waited 30 fucking years to get that thing made, and he was not going to let any illness stop him.”

For Murphy, feeling the weight of the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives in the AIDS crisis, the biggest reward of the project was bringing the story to a new, young audience who was unaware of it.

“So the fact that so many young men and women are looking to become little Larry Kramers for their own causes is by far and away the best thing that I’ve ever been part of in my whole career.”

Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: “Bitchcraft,” Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk

Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: “Bitchcraft,” Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

As the co-creators of the anthology series, Falchuk and Murphy work hard to set the tone with the first episode of the year, spending about six months dreaming it up, and season 3 veered off in a new direction.

“Literally the phrase is ‘magical realism,’ because that’s what we were doing,” says Murphy. “Season 2 was about an insane asylum, and it was very dark and very gritty. And I think we wanted to do something lighter and more glamorous and more fun.”

Murphy says, “I loved that we were able to showcase strong, powerful women and to provide work — that was a wonderful opportunity for everybody.”

Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: Steven Moffat

Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: Nick Hurran

“Sherlock has been such a success, it’s hard to know how to top it each time,” “Sherlock” showrunner Moffat says. “But we’re very keen to keep the character developing. Sherlock Holmes is a genius and geniuses learn fast, so he has to change. The challenge was to keep him dangerous and unpredictable even as he finds his more human sides.”

Moffat says he loves “making mad plans” for their detective drama with co-creator Mark Gatiss and bouncing ideas off director Nick Hurran. “We collaborate continuously, or that’s how it feels. As with all great directors, it’s about throwing as many ideas at him as possible and waiting for him to throw better ideas back.”

Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: Neil Cross

Creator- writer Cross sees the story of Detective Chief Inspector John Luther as a culmination of a lifetime of fandom of other detectives including Harry Bosch and the Doctor in “Doctor Who,” with elements of “The X-Files” and even the inspiration of David Bowie.

“A million things go into the mash. It’s me writing television that I would want to see,” says Cross. Without a writing partner, he bounces ideas — and frustrations — off his wife.

“ ‘Luther’ is so intense that four episodes a season is enough for the audience, but I wish there were more because I love writing them.”

Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: David Simon, Eric Overmyer

The genesis of the New Orleans-set series goes back to Simon and Overmyer’s days on “Homicide: Life on the Street” and “The Wire,” but the concept of doing a Big Easy show centered on a musician was kicked into high gear by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“David and I alternate writing, rewriting and producing each episode,” says Overmyer of their collaboration.

“We try our utmost to convey New Orleans culture as authentically as possible.

“We recorded all of the music live on set, which most people don’t do. It’s much more difficult but it’s also much more rewarding.”

Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: Stephen Frears

Bigger than any of Ali’s boxing matches, Frears was drawn to the tale of the boxing legend’s fight against charges of draft-dodging during the Vietnam War that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

“It takes a supple mind to understand the law, particularly Ali’s defense,” says Frears. “It was also exhausting to work through the transcripts and dramatize them, while keeping them real and believable.”

Part of that believability was not having an actor play Ali. Instead, Frears opted to portray the fighter by using news clips of him.